Someone Named Eva

Entry #1 Pages 1-13 March 21, 2011

Summary

Things weren't the same for Milada. She had never seen a Jew, but she wondered why they were so bad. Milada and her best friend, Terezie's, 11th birthdays are coming up, and they are having fun planning. Although times are hard and they don't expect gifts, Milada gets a used telescope from her parents. It was what she always wanted, because she loves looking at the stars. But Milada senses something bad about the soldiers on the streets. They were strict and mean, and really frightened her.

Vocab

1. fault-a weakness of character
2. Babichka-Czech for grandmother
3. gurgled-to flow with a bubbling sound
4. torment-any extreme pain, anguish, or misery, either physical or mental
5. constellations-an image associated with a group of stars

Entry #2 Pages 14-36 March 22, 2011

Summary

In the middle of the night, Milada's family is taken by the Nazis. They don't know what is happening, because they are not Jewish. Milada, her sister, and her mother get separated from her father and her brother. Milada has to spend days in an old gymnasium with little food. After four days, Milada is taken by the Nazis in a bus and is separated from her mother and sister. She is frightened and doesn't know what is going on. She wonders if she will ever see her family again, but untill then she is stuck on a bus leading to the unknown.

Vocab

1.barked-to speak sharply
2.interrogation-the act of questioning
3.intertwined-twisted together
4.prodding-to encourage, to prompt
5.rancid-being rank in sense or smell, offensive

Entry #3 Pages 37-52 March 22, 2011

Summary

Milada finds herself at a small school with many other blonde-haired blue-eyed girls around her age. Their teacher, Fraulein Kruger, is very strict and tells the girls that they will be the future Nazi German women. They are given new names, and Milada is named Eva. Fraulein Kruger says that all of the girls are going to be taught how to be true Aryans. She also tells the girls that their parents were killed in an Allied air raid. Milada knows this is not true and holds on to her grandmother's pin that she had given her to remember. Her grandmother had said, "Remember who you are, Milada. Remember where you are from. Always." before Milada left, and that was just what "Eva" was going to do.

Vocab

1.reassured-to free from fear or terror
2.hazy-not clear; obscure
3.hulking-tall and heavily built
4.briskly-fast, quick, swiftly
5.compound-an enclosure in which workers, prisoners, or soldiers are confined

Entry #4 March 24, 2011 Pages 53-70

Summary

The school Milada is going to doesn't seem like Milada's normal school. Something is different. Milada is not allowed to speak her native language, Czech; she is only allowed to speak German. Another student at the school, Franziska, used to go to the same school Milada did. Franziska is a very good and smart student, but she likes to put others down in order to make herself look better in front of Fraulein Kruger. Milada misses her family and hides her grandmother's pin inside of her clothes. The teachers are strict and threaten to beat the girls if they misbehave. Milada wonders when her family will come to rescue her.

Vocab

1.outstretched-extended or stretched out
2.nourishing-to eductate, to bring up, to nurture
3.outwardly-toward the outside
4.inflection-a change in the form of a word that reflects a change in grammatical function
5.purposefully-having purpose, intentional

Entry #5 April 5, 2011 Pages 71-84

Summary

As days pass for "Eva," everything becomes a routine. Eva is starting to forget everything about her life before this school. Sometimes she even finds herself believing in Fraulein Kruger's story about her being here because an air raid had killed her family. But one night, Eva found herself dreaming of her grandmother singing her a lullaby and using her name, Milada. Eva/Milada promises herself that she will never again forget who she is or what her true Czech name is. Nights later, Eva's friend Liesel wakes her, because Eva was singing the lullaby out loud in her sleep in her Czech language. Milada is Eva's true name, and she is struggling to remember who she once was.

Vocab

1.vividly-clearly, detailed, or powerful
2.gazing-to stare at
3.throb-to vibrate or pulse with a steady rhythm
4.clouding-to become foggy or gloomy
5.rhythmic-with regular, repetitive motion or sound

Entry #6 April 6, 2011 Pages 85-97


Summary

After another normal night sleeping, Eva wakes up to something not so normal. Fraulein Kruger is dressed up, and says that the girls will all be going to town to show Germany what lovely young German girls they are. Each girl got new clothes and money to buy anything they wanted. They all have a great time, and right when they leave, Eva spots somebody. Somebody who looks a lot like her grandmother. As Eva tries talking to the Czechoslavakian woman, she realizes the woman can't understand her German. She also realizes that this woman hates her, because Eva is a Nazi. The old woman spits on Eva, and Fraulein Kruger suddenly beats the woman to the ground. Eva continues to remind herself at night that she is not a Nazi; she is the Czechoslavakian girl named Milada.

Vocab

1.philosophy-a system of principles for guidance in practical affairs
2.defied-to challenge the power of
3.bearable-capable of being tolerated
4.intention-meaning or significance
5.flourish-to prosper or be successful

Entry #7 April 6, 2011 Pages 98-107


Summary

Many long, boring days go by until one morning when things seem different. Is the war over? Milada kept thinking. Fraulein Kruger headed the girls to the church and told them that they would be getting adopted today. Milada fainted and awoke to a Nazi couple and Fraulein Kruger. The couple took her to their home that wasn't very far away from the school that seemed far away from everything.
1.routine-a regular procedure
2.economic-pertaining to an economy
3.addressing-to speak toward someone
4.polish-to make smooth and glossy
5.urge-to press by persuasion

Entry #8 April 13, 2011 Pages 108-128


Summary

Eva keeps trying to remember more of herself, but it's becoming very hard for her. She constantly says her name, Milada, in her head at night so that she will never forget who she is. Her grandmother told her to never forget who she was, and Milada was going to keep that promise. She finds out that her adopted parents are throwing a huge party for her arrival. Even though Eva/Milada shouldn't be excited, she can't hide her excitement when she thinks about a party.

Vocab

1.awaken-to spring into being
2.cuffing-a blow with a fist or open hand
3.efficient-satisfactory or economical to use
4.luxurious-overelaborate
5.watchful-alert, closely observant

Entry #9 April 15, 2011 Pages 129-134

Summary

The party for Eva is coming closer. It's going to be a big party and many Nazi families are coming to it. But Eva feels guilty being excited for it, because she knows that deep down, she is not a Nazi. She is Czechoslavakian, and it's getting harder for her to remember it. Eva's Nazi sister, Elsbeth, tells Eva about the camp that their father, Vater, run. Vater is a high ranking Nazi and runs a big camp nearby. This makes Eva all the more confused about who she is.

Vocab

1.smokestacks-a pipe for the escape of smoke
2.stunning-of striking beauty or excellence
3.liebling-German for daughter
4.assign-to announce as a task
5.rustled-to move or get by with energetic action

Entry #10 April 17, 2011 Pages 135-140


Summary

The party for Eva finally arrives. She is surprised to see so many Nazi families in her adopted family's mansion. All of the Nazi mothers there were wearing bronze, silver, and gold medals. Eva's mother had just recieved a bronze medal at the party. Eva was confused and asked Elsbeth what it was about, and Elsbeth told her that the more Nazi children you have, the better the medal you get. Eva feels important to know that she has helped her Mutter.

Vocab

1.shimmered-to gleam faintly
2.pageantry-spectacular display
3.nervousness-unnaturally uneasy
4.Mutter-German for mother
5.motioning-to gesture

Entry #11 April 20, 2011 Pages 141-153


Summary

Winter is coming at Eva's house. Eva wonders what Milada's house is like, or if it is still even there. Mutter tells Eva and Elsbeth that they can go outside and have a picnic instead of lessons, so they go out into the woods. Elsbeth shows Eva a secret. Elsbeth knows how to aim and shoot a gun in the target range of her father's in the woods. She lets Eva try, and Eva feels a rush of excitement. On their walk back, Eva hears women singing an anthem; the Czechoslovakian anthem. She runs to a fence where she sees lanky women with barely any hair working and singing in Czech. Elsbeth warns Eva to never go back to the bad place where the bad people are kept, but Eva longs to see them again and sing back in the beautiful Czech language.

Vocab

1.edgy-nervously irritable
2.whirling-to spin rapidly
3.prevail-to win out
4.preoccupied-completely absorbed in thought
5.mischieviously-slyly teasing

Entry #12 April 26, 2011 Pages 154-167


Summary

Things are getting very tough in Germany. Although Mutter tells Eva, "Germany is strong," and "We will prevail," Eva is not sure. Outside, war planes drone in the sky. Vater decides that he and little Peter are going into hiding, because it is too dangerous for a high ranking Nazi to be out in the open. After Vater and Peter leave, Elsbeth, Mutter, and Eva hide down in the basement in a secret room to be safe. They don't know how long they will be down there, or if Vater and Peter will ever come back.

Vocab

1.constant-unceasing
2.dwindle-to shrink
3.wail-to cry
4.puncture-to pierce
5.disuse-to cease with use

Entry #13 April 26, 2011 Pages 168-177


Summary

After waiting in the basement for quite a while, Elsbeth and Eva begin to get bored. They ask to go upstairs to just take a peak, but Mutter says it is too dangerous. When Mutter is sleeping, though, Elsbeth tells Eva that they should go get their secret gun from the woods for emergencies. Eva goes along, but they can't find it. On their way back, Eva thinks about the camp. She can't help her curiosity or her longing to hear the beautiful Czech language, so she goes to see the camp behind Elsbeth's back. But Elsbeth catches her and accuses Eva of being a Jew. Eva knew she wasn't a Jew, but she wasn't a Nazi either. She was Milada; a Czechoslovakian girl. And all of the anger swells up inside of Eva, and she punches Elsbeth. When they return, they have discovered that Germany has lost the war, and the Allies had won.

Vocab

1.trudge-to walk wearily
2.clearing-an opening
3.unleash-to abandon control of
4.affection-emotion or feeling;love
5.spreading-expansion

Entry #14 April 27, 2011 Pages 178-188


Summary

After the war, Milada, Elsbeth, and Mutter went back to live in their house. Things were very different, and one day there was a powerful knock on the door. It was Allied soldiers. They were here to take Milada to her mother, who had survived a concentration camp. Mutter was on her knees crying for the Americans to not take Eva away, but the soldiers wanted Milada. And Milada went with them to reunite with her real mother.

Vocab

1.temporary-not permanent
2.appeal-to provide pleasure to
3.adequate-reasonably sufficient
4.concentrate-to think
5.knelt-to kneel down

Entry #15 April 27, 2011 Pages 189-193


Summary

After finding out that her mutter was the only other survivor in Milada's family, Milada cried. But once she reunited with her mother, she felt almost as happy as she could be. The Americans were trying to find her baby sister, Annecka, who had also been adopted, so there was still hope. Jaro and Milada's father had been shot, and her grandmother had died at a concentration camp. But after all that Eva had been through, it was good to be Milada again and see the smile on her mother's face when Milada showed her mother grandmother's pin. Milada had kept her promise to her grandmother. She had remembered who she was, and where she was from. And because she remembered, she was with her real mother and was free from the Nazi lies and the Nazi girl named Eva.

1.reinstated-to establish again
2.attend-to be present at
3.grasp-to grab firmly
4.pour-a heavy fall of rain
5.discovery-something discovered


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